


Of Fist Bumps and Hard Calls

by NicePumpkinSpice



Series: Of Sweet Memories and Guarded Moments [54]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 18:39:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3739267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicePumpkinSpice/pseuds/NicePumpkinSpice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Evelyn is aggravated by Dorian's insistence that Cullen and she tone down "the adorable."  The Inquisitor boosts morale before the largest battle of the Arbor Wilds.  During the battle, Evelyn must decide whose safety is more important - hers or Cullen's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Fist Bumps and Hard Calls

Evelyn found Dorian lounging beside the campfire engrossed in one of Brother Genitivi’s treatises on the rise of King Calenhad. “Walk with me?” she asked sweetly.

“I would immolate most people that interrupted my reading, but I’ll make an exception for you,” Dorian said while marking his place and closing his book. “So where are we going?”

“I need to go through the camps and speak with our people. I’m nervous about all the attention and potential weirdness.”

“So you want an evil, mustache-twirling Tevinter mage beside you to intimidate the loonies?”

“I wouldn’t call them loonies,” Evelyn said tactfully.

“Yes, you would. I distinctly recall you using that very term on more than one occasion to describe some of your more adoring adherents.” 

“Fine. Will you please come with me? I don’t ever want a repeat of the creepy singing and kneeling that happened after Haven.”

“I’m happy to accompany you and look menacing.”

“Have I mentioned how much I love you?” Evelyn gushed.

“Careful now. Cullen will hear that and get jealous,” Dorian teased.

“He’s always jealous,” Evelyn answered with a devious glint in her eyes.

“Ah, yes, I forgot. My sweet little Inquisitor relishes drawing out the more savage tendencies of her lover.”

“You’re one to talk,” Evelyn said while coughing, “Bull,” into her hand.

“We’re two of a kind, Inquisitor. I think that’s why we get along so splendidly. Shall we greet the masses?’

***********************

Evelyn moved through the camps outside the Arbor Wilds speaking with soldiers, healers, nobles, and servants alike. With some, she laughed at their ribald jokes and told a few of her own. With others, she wore the dignified air of the noble born and skillfully countered their political intrigues. At times, she would simply help with preparations - carrying and organizing supplies. She visited the injured and used her prodigious skills as a healer when they could help. For those too wounded for healing, she soothed what aches she could, held their hands, and prayed for their souls as they passed on to the Beyond. She hugged some people and listened to the complaints of others. She encouraged fearful young soldiers and nodded respectfully to grizzled veterans.

When people would come asking for her blessing, though, she would refuse by saying, “No, but I will pray for you if you promise to do the same for me.” Then she would bow her head and earnestly pray for the Maker’s protection, guidance, and favor for the supplicant. 

As the hours passed, Dorian watched her with increasing awe. Each facet of herself that she presented to different people was genuine. She was an amazingly complex person -debauched, pious, dignified, silly, helpful, compassionate, open, and stubborn. More than that she instinctively knew how to approach people for them to feel most at ease.

Cullen had wandered over to Dorian’s side, and both men stood observing Evelyn. “Are you positive she isn’t a shapeshifter?” Dorian asked Cullen.

“When I see her like this, I wonder,” Cullen answered. “She is a chameleon - isn’t she?”

“Indeed -a marvelous creature,” Dorian commented. 

Evelyn made her way over to the two men. “I’m exhausted and hungry. Do you think I can go eat now? Have I done enough?”

“You did enough well over two hours ago, Inquisitor,” Dorian stated, “Let us take care of you for a bit.”

Evelyn smiled wearily and took the arm Cullen offered her. 

After a meal and the quiet company of Dorian and Cullen in her tent, Evelyn felt infinitely better. Making sure that Cassandra wasn’t near to chastise her about professionalism, Evelyn snuggled up to Cullen. She closed her eyes and drank in his scent while he gently rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head.

“You two are so adorable it makes me want to gag,” Dorian groused.

Evelyn opened her eyes and peered at Dorian. “Please tell me you aren’t joining Cassandra’s ‘no fraternization’ brigade.”

“Maker, no! I’m all for fraternizing. Fraternize away! I just can’t stand sappy displays like these.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Cassandra wants us to sleep separately while we’re here. You want us to avoid cuddling. What are we allowed - fist bumps?”

Dorian wrinkled his nose. “Fist bumps are so pedestrian, Inquisitor. I’m thinking you should go with longing glances and hidden trysts.”

“We topped out on longing glances ages ago,” Cullen countered. Lowering his voice and tickling Evelyn’s side, he added, “I’m all for hidden trysts, though.”

Brushing Cullen’s hand aside, Evelyn said, “Considering the Arbor Wilds are full of Red Templars, Venatori, and corrupted Wardens, venturing out of camp for quick fuck seems ill advised.”

Dorian guffawed and Cullen blushed at Evelyn’s language. She sighed deeply and commented sadly, “Fist bumps it is.” Holding her fist out to Cullen, she teased, “Don’t leave me hanging, man.”

***********************

The assault on the Arbor Wilds was underway. Evelyn stood with her team at the forward camp preparing to enter the battle. Cullen and his soldiers were clearing a way for her to the temple aided by Leliana’s scouts and additional troops from Inquisition supporters. Evelyn was anxious to get fighting because all she had been doing was worrying about Cullen. _Is this what it’s like for him when I leave Skyhold? Maker, I’d go insane._

Solas stepped beside her and tilted his head. “We are prepared, Inquisitor. Shall we?”

“Let’s go,” Evelyn said while throwing up a barrier and racing down to where she could hear the sounds of battle.

Cullen’s men had done an excellent job of making a path to the Temple for her team. They met some resistance, but it was primarily from small groups of Wardens or Red Templars which Evelyn and her squad dispatched with ease. Along the way, they encountered some of Cullen’s men engaged in skirmishes. Evelyn smiled to see the young soldier, who months ago Cullen had to repeatedly remind to keep his shield up, slicing through enemies with ease and never dropping his guard. Her Commander had done his job of preparing the troops well -not that she expected any less from him.

They progressed through the Wilds with little difficulty until they met a barricade manned by Red Templars. Enemy archers held the high ground, and a sizable contingent of knights and shadows blocked their path. Evelyn,Vivienne, Varric and Solas concentrated their attacks on the archers while Dorian cast horror spells on the warriors. Bull, Blackwall, and Cassandra held the front line against the Red Templar knights while Sera peppered them with arrows. Cole slipped effortlessly amongst the enemy combatants, slitting the throats of the unwary. 

It was a hard fought battle, but Evelyn and her team had nearly cleared the path when another enemy joined the field. They were elves but different from any elves that Evelyn had previously encountered. They were larger than usual and every one of them held magic even if they chose to attack with knives or arrows. Their armor was unlike any Evelyn had seen and although they wore vallaslin like the Dalish, they were clearly not Dalish elves. The realization of what they were settled on Evelyn as one of their rogues nearly sliced through her barrier using a magically enhanced dagger attack. These were ancient elves - the immortal beings that inhabited Thedas before man’s arrival. She had so many questions for them, but they wouldn’t stop trying to kill her long enough for her to ask.

When the last elf fell, Evelyn went through the battlefield looting bodies and looking for clues to Corypheus’ plans. She found a note indicating that he had selected an honor guard of wardens to accompany him which she found odd. She would have chosen a mixture of Venatori and Red Templars as her protectors. Searching the body of one of the elves, she felt immense sorrow at ending the life of someone that had lived so long and experienced so much.

Solas was particularly somber after the encounter with the elves. He explained that they were likely sentinels assigned to protect the temple at all costs. With a tinge of desperation in his voice, he asked Evelyn to try to reach out to any other elves they met. Perhaps they could be convinced to help rather than forced to die. Evelyn agreed. The last thing she wanted to do was remove the few remaining Elvhenan from Thedas.

Kicking at one of the elven bodies, Sera snarked, “I almost feel sorry for these elfy elves. Dying for their stupid demon infested temple. Hey, Solas, they’re all bald like you. It must be an elfy thing.”

Solas‘ eyes went hard and he cursed, “Fenedhis lasa. Din elvhen emma him?”

“Testy one aren’t ya, Elfy?” Sera threw back after blowing a raspberry.

“Enough, Sera. I won’t have you making light of their sacrifice,” Evelyn snapped.

“Whatever. They weren’t noble. They were dumb. To live that long and die for some ratty old temple is stupid.” Sera insisted.

“I said enough.” Evelyn shouted. Sera mumbled under her breath, but kept the remainder of her commentary to herself. 

As they passed through the Wilds, Evelyn marveled at their beauty. The trees were large and every plant beneath them was a lush emerald green. Colorful birds and herbs that she had never seen before decorated the landscape. It was warm, too, which mystified Evelyn. Typically, the further south you went in Thedas the colder it became. They were at the bottom part of the known continent, and it was warmer than her native Free Marches well to the north. Perhaps the same elven magic that kept Skyhold temperate allowed the rainforest to flourish in the Arbor Wilds. Regardless, it was majestic, and she hated that she couldn’t simply spend her time exploring rather than racing after Corypheus.

Her team traveled along the river that ran through the Wilds. They went over a ridge and saw a battle between Inquisition forces and Red Templars occurring on flat shoal with a rocky bottom just outside the temple gates. Bodies from both sides littered the water turning it a frothy red. Evelyn’s heart went to her throat when she recognized Cullen’s red mantle and a few Inquisition soldiers in the very middle of the melee. “They’re wildly outnumbered,” she shouted in a panic and rushed to join the fighting.

With Evelyn and her squad’s assistance, Cullen and his remaining men were able to regain control of the battle and put down the Red Templars. Cullen urged Evelyn to continue forward to the temple, but she hesitated. More of Corypheus’ forces were guaranteed to arrive at this last stand before the temple. If she left Cullen with the reduced number of men he had with him, they would be killed when the next wave hit.

“No, you need reinforcements,” Evelyn argued.

“We have sent for them. What we don’t have is time. You need to go, Ev. We’ll protect your back.,” Cullen commanded.

Evelyn looked at Cullen, his ragged men, and her own team and made a gut call, “Bull, Vivienne, Sera, and Cole - stay with Cullen and his men until reinforcements arrive. Then you can follow after us.”

“Inquisitor, you need your full team.” Cullen protested loudly. He then stepped closer to Evelyn speaking in a low voice only she could hear, “You have to survive this battle. Without you, the Inquisition is lost, I’m lost. I can’t accept your putting yourself at risk like this again.”

“This isn’t your call, Commander.” Evelyn said with finality and took off toward the temple without looking back.


End file.
